Ways of Living.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 412, 7 April 1904, Page 7

Ways of Living.

THE PBOFESSIONAL APPLATJDEE. many years past a peculiar inCMMp stitution has been in vogue in jficvftl France, which wields an important influence in the theatrical world. This isatitution consists of a body of men who devote themselves to securing the success of a public performance or pro duction, by bestowing upon it preconcerted applause, and thus giving the public, who are not in the secret, a false notion of the impression it has made. Donbtlesß Borne readers have heard, of these men, who are known as 'The Cinque'; but probably few are aware that a similar institution has been established on the English side of the Channel also. Twoyeais ago the management of two of the leading variety theatres introduced the claque system, having found it absolutely necessary when they employed foreign artistes, especially acrobats On each Monday the chief of the claqaers, who supplies both halls, pays a personal visit to each performer to it quire what special act he or she wishes to have applauded. The fee ranges from 10a Mto £2 2s per week, according to the work required. For 103 6d the artiste will receive one call before the curtain at the finish of the show; £1 Is pays for three, while special turns, who can afford M 2>, receive five calls nightly. The claqaers themselves are mostly J unpaid workers, *vho see the entertain ment free, on condition that they use their hands at a signal from the leader The sigoal cons'sts of a sharp clap, which sounds through the theatre like the violent slamming of a door in a gale of wind, so that the claqners, no matter in what part of the theatre they may be, easily recognize it and commence to applaud On Saturday night the chief claquer again visits the artiste to collect his dues and receive instructions for the following week. Beyond the claque system introduced at the afort mentioned halls, it may be said that there is no regular organized claque in England—at any rate not such as exists in Paris. At the same time, at many of the theatres in the Metropolis precautions are taken on first nights, which have precisely the same effect as the claque. It is, of course, important that a good impression should ba created on the first night, and the public worked up, so to speaV:, to recognise the best points in the piece. But after the first night the claqo) ; : is usually dispensed with.

In Paris, however,, the claque is regarded as of more importance, and the chef as a man on whom a certain amount of the succiss of the piece depends. The latter is engaged in the same way as the other officials or ; the theatre, and receives a fixed salary, varying from 300 to 500 francs per month. For this sum he is expected to take with him into the theatre at each performance a certain number of men with big, strong hands and intelligent enough to clap vigorously when they are given the signal by their leader. The chef de claque attends the last two or three rehearsals of a new play, makes notes in connection with the author and manager, and arranges the points at which the applause, laughter, or tears must be forthcoming. He then proceeds j to give instructions to his men, the main body of which usually form a solid mass ! in the centre of the pit. It is the duty of this body to clap their hands and applaud at the given signal, while other members of the claque are placed in various other parts of the theatre and laugh, weep, or shout 'encore,' according to the requirements' of the piece. More artistic developments of the French claquers are the sangloteure, a female who sobs hysterically; the pameuse, who faints, and the moucheur, a well-dressed gentleman, who blows his nose with tact at affecting passages. These claquers, it should be mentioned, are by no means men in destitute circumtances who become professional applauders in order to gain a few franca. Many of the claquers in the State theatres of Paris are eminently respectable men, who like to enjoy a play without having to pay for their seats. They include doctors, advocates, pupils of the Conservatoire, and shopkeepers, who assemble every evening at a cafe *n the neighbourhood of the theatre about ten minutes before the performance starts, answer to their names as the chief calls them out, and receive a metal ticket on which the number of their seajb is engraved. The position of the chef de claque a some of the theatres is much coveted, a may be gathered from the fact that a man often has to pay a certain sum if he wishes to occupy it. He has a properly drawn-up agreement with hi* manager, stating what sum. he pays for his position; tjhe length of time he is allowed to hold it, and the number of seats which are given to him each day. The chief however, does not always give these seats to his claquers. If they are expensive seats he will often sell them at a reduced price, thus making a good profit. In addition to his fixed salary and the profits on seats, the chef de claque is often paid as much as 100 to 300 francs per month by aristes themselves, in order to applaud their appearance on the stage and shout for an encore. In fact, there are many instances on record of chiefs dying rich men. Two in particular, named Augusts and Porcher, both of the Opera, died immensely rich. The former, in fact, was rich enough, before he became chef de claque at the Opera, to pay 80 000 francs for the position.

I Itiß globular in outline, and be&s the I family name of ooooi. The work which this family turns out is recognisable as pneumonia, erysipelas, septicemia, and the like. A strange feature in the habits of the ooooi is the way in whioh they associate themselves together when engaged in the performance of their work, . Some of them start off on their labours in pairs, and this has secured for them the nickname of ' diplooocci * 5 others eleot to go single file, like a string of beads, and on this account they are generally called ' streptococci.' The rest of them appear to possess strong family sentiments tending to range them in acre or lass rounded groups, and in consequence*of this procedure they have been termed the ' staphylococci.'

BADIUM AN© CaNCEB As the result 0? savere burns received in experimenting with the Xrajs and radium, Mr Charles Dally, one of Mr. Edison's assistants, recently developed cancer, which necessitated the amputation of both his arms. Mr Edison made a close study of the case, and now announces a course of treatment which he behaves might be effective in preventing similar occurrences. He believes that the. human body contains certain auceboid cells capable of movement whose sole function is to restore injured tissue. He points out that nature in the case of an ordinary cut, wound or burn works through the medium of these cells in restoring normal conditions. His theory is that the X-r ys destroy the an oahoid cells, and thus prevent healing. Mr Edison thinks that an antidote might be obtained- by taking blood from a healthy person untainted by cancer or Other malignant disease and injecting it into the patient's veins. This would supply enough strong amoeboid cells to attack the seat of the disease and conquer the malady. Mr Edison sajs that the same thory might be applied to the treatment of cancer due to other causes, but that the whole subject is entirely a matter for surgeons and scientific physiologists. .-.uia

NO M.OKB SEASICKNESS. . While there ate probably very few persons who are deterred from crossing the ocean hj fears of sea sickness, yet this infliction is s> disagreeable to those subjest to it that an invention for the prevention of the malady will be viewed with no little interest by travellers. There are three movements on board a ship which give rise to the seasickness of passengers—fiiat, the oscillations around the longitudinal axis of the hull, termed ' rolling'; second, oscillations around the cross-axis, called «pitching,' .and third, the up-and-down motion of the whole hull. The rolling and pitching movements of the hull are dispensed with by mounting the cabin on a cross-axis, with pi vols at right angles. to each other, so that in whatever direction the boat tilts the cabin remains level by swinging on its pivots. To do away with the up-and-down movement the inventor provides, in addition to the above described mechanism, an arrangement by which the weight of cabin is constant, supported by steam or air pressure.

For this purpose the cabin is fixed to a cyclinder in which a piston is movable, the lattei being suspenied from the ship frame so as to. allow a free swinging movement of the whole cabin. The plan is then to connect all the cylinders with a large reservoir, in which the pressure remains practically constant and governs the movement of the pistons by the constant and rapid flow of the air or steam from one part of the ship to the other as the cabins on opposite sides of the boat alternately rise and fall, lessening their movement to such an extent as to render it unnoticesble by the passengers.

THE LATEST POISON. I remember once seeing in a railway refreshment-room a picture advertising some mineral w*ter John " Ball was seated at the table, and wanted drink of bo me sort or another, and before him were groped Sir Wilfrid Lawson, who denied him whisky, someone else who denounced tea, and a quantity of others who denounced everything m detail Since that day I have learned that they were all right} and any intelligent man knows that the only way to legitimately quench his thirst, according to modem ideas, is to lie flat on his back when it is raining with his mouth wide open. As to food, we have all made liberal concessions in the interest of science Some years ago we heard that the msckeral was a simple brigand, and never let any m artel disease for miles round go by. We left the playful mackerel alone, when we ordered. Then came the oyeter, who, together with the lobster, was accused of filling himself up with enough ingredients to write a seven volume book on tosocology, We passed them ov€r, together with pigeons, partridges, and, noticeably, grouse. Still we had a certain satisfaction left—and we felt that it was an honest and legitimate satisfaction—in regarding the honest aad homely beefsteak. Then before you was only an incident in |the career of an intelligent animal that stands under trees when there is lightning going on; it could never have done any harm itself independently. Bat that last plank between ourselves and starvation is now kicked away. Dr. Vallier, an eminent French specialist, has declared that the beefsteak that is juicy and not done to a cinder is the official headcharters for all microbes tli at have secured their degree and are qualified to practice, If he had stopped at the French beefsteak I could have believed him The ordinary Parisian 'biftek,' cooked 'a l'Anglaise,' would turn the most pronounced Anabaptist into a foaming Israelite. Bat, unfortunately, he dees not leave the matter there, but declares that it is in the steak you find in England that the trouble lies Well, now I suppose everyone knows what they can eat in safety. I don't I—Barry Pain.

STAINS ON WHITE MATERIALS. It is always beat to try simple methods of removing stains before resorting to strong materials, such as chloride of lime; which is one of the moat powerful ohemicals for removing stains. It is so strong that it may be very destructive if not used carefully. Iron rust may be easily removed by covering the stain with a thick layer of salt, >nd then saturating it with a piece of a lemon and laying it in strong sunlight to bleach. If the stain does not come out with the first application it certainly will with a second. Mildew is one of the most difficult of all stains to remove. Bub well with brown soap, then apply a paste of chalk and water and put the stained article in the hot sunshine. After two or three applications the mildew ma; be bleached out. To remove tea or coffee.stains rub powdered borax thoroughly into the stained part and pour boiling water, through it into a basin.